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Fifth-year Virginia Tech coach Mike Young will lean heavily on a backcourt featuring starters Hunter Cattoor and Sean Pedulla, backed up by a blossoming MJ Collins.

Questions loom in the frontcourt, however, as the Hokies open the season on Monday night against Coppin State in Blacksburg, Va.

The Virginia Tech frontcourt features a mishmash of returners and transfers vying for minutes. The most likely starters figure to be Mekhi Long, who averaged 10.7 points and 8.7 rebounds last year at Old Dominion, and Robbie Beran, who averaged 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds last year at Northwestern.

They will team up front with North Carolina transfer Tyler Nickel and a pair of returning rotation players, 6-foot-10 Lynn Kidd and Mylyjael Poteat.

“It’s a daily grind,” Young said of blending the new and old. “When they’re coming to you from different programs, really good programs, great coaches, but the style is maybe different, it’s just a daily emphasis.”

After making the NCAA Tournament for two straight years, the Hokies came up short last season, finishing 19-15 as their defense struggled.

Bad news came late in the preseason for Virginia Tech with the sudden exit of sophomore guard Rodney Rice, one of the most highly recruited players in school history.

Coppin State of the MEAC arrives with a new coach, Larry Stewart, an alumnus who played parts of five seasons in the NBA.

He’ll have a tough job, with no starters back from a 9-23 team. Stewart will blend six freshmen with five returners and five transfers, including two from Baltimore rival Morgan State.

Justin Winston, who averaged 7.9 points last season for the Eagles, is the top scorer back. Also returning are 6-foot-11 Luka Tekavcic and guards Malik Battle, Greg Spurlock and Isaiah Gross.

“We have a lot of different weapons,” Stewart said. “Guys have bought in. They’re excited. They’re starting to believe in each other.”

–Field Level Media